Effect of Self-efficacy on the Relationship between Corporal Punishment and School Dropout

Abstract

Corporal punishment results in aggressive behaviours in students. As a result, some students leave school. Researchers believe that the issue of school dropout can be reduced by adopting different motivational techniques. Self-efficacy is one technique that can be promoted to create a caring and supportive learning environment. The issue of dropout is alarming in many Pakistani schools especially at the primary level due to the prevalence of corporal punishment and other factors. This issue prevails mostly in government schools where teachers adopt stringent steps in the teaching process. This study was specifically designed to examine the role of self-efficacy as a moderator between corporal punishment and school dropout. Many studies have explored the relations of corporal punishment with school dropout. It remains to be seen what actually moderates these relations. This study contributes to this gap in the literature by examining self-efficacy as an influencing factor. The study used a validated questionnaire to survey 300 government primary school teachers’ attitude on this issue. Results of the study indicated that corporal punishment significantly correlated with school dropout rate. Secondly, self-efficacy significantly moderates the relations between corporal punishment and school dropout. On the basis of these findings, the study concludes that teachers may reduce the issue of school dropout by creating a supportive and caring teaching and learning environment in school. Finally, the study suggests that the school administration play a key role to overcome the issue of increasing rate of school dropout by adopting rules and procedures to convince and motivate teachers to avoid corporal punishment.